Complacent senate finally shows signs of life

With tight budgets across the state, the possibility of program cuts ever looming and student tuition shouldering the majority of the university's general fund, the Northern Iowa Student Government is perhaps more important than ever before. If only every senator thought the same way.

The NISG senate's problems are many, but chief among them are a lack of initiative and responsibility. The senate serves an important role: it represents the voice of the student body to the administration and local, state and national legislatures, and it controls more than $100,000 of student fees for student organizations and NISG initiatives.

This is a big responsibility, and one would imagine the students in this governing body would take their positions seriously. While some certainly do, they unfortunately appear to be the exception to the norm.

This year's senate has experienced attendance issues, with roughly four to five senators absent during meetings in a body that has yet to have a senator fill every seat (Campbell Hall, Lawther Hall, Dancer Hall and University Apartments are all currently unrepresented, and there's one vacant off-campus seat as well).

Moreover, this year's senate has retention issues. When a seat becomes empty due to a senator's removal or resignation, a new senator is appointed by the Speaker and approved by the senate. Currently, 16 out of 33 senators were not elected, and 13 senators were elected with less than 30 votes, which means that only about one-fourth of current senators were elected with more than 30 votes.

Unsurprisingly, that minority of senators tends to speak up the most during meetings and bring new initiatives and legislation to the table, though there are certainly notable exceptions. Some of those senators carry previous NISG experience — an absolute rarity — while others came from positions of leadership in the university.

What's the result of all this? A complacent senate. Many committees have canceled meetings because they were unable to make quorum, many precedents set by previous senators have been forgotten, and several important pieces of legislation were passed with little debate, if any.

We expect a lot more from the stewards of students' money and representatives of students' voices.

However, there's hope at the bottom of NISG's box of chaos: suddenly, out of nowhere, senate remembered how to debate. Some senators began doing important research on legislation before the larger body discussed it, and meeting times suddenly doubled from an increase in the amount of legislation and in the scrutiny given to each document.

This change was sparked by a debate now dubbed by many senators as "Buttongate," in which senators argued over whether or not to fund buttons, an item not prohibited in its guidelines but for which previous Organization and Finance Committees had denied funding. After a long and heated discussion, senate voted to follow the set precedent in order to treat organizations with equity. Since then, the body has been more outspoken during meetings and seems to be taking its role more seriously, though much of the debate stems from miscommunication and misunderstandings.

We applaud the senators who are willing to have apparently trivial debates because they recognize their greater significance in the operation of NISG and its relation to students, and we applaud those who make tough, unpopular decisions with a larger picture in mind. What's great is that major changes are coming from these debates — for example, the Organization and Finance Committee is meeting Monday to review and revise its funding guidelines in order to be more transparent and open to student organizations seeking funding. And so, as a result of this seemingly pointless debate, NISG is changing for students' benefit.

Imagine what senate would have been like all year if every senator had that passion, if every senator attended more meetings and engaged in important debates, if every senator brought initiatives to the table. Imagine if every senator had to meet with students and listen to their concerns in order to even be elected.

Fortunately, this dream can become a reality. The senate is shrinking in half next year, dropping from 38 seats to 19. With fewer seats, ideally, each senator will need to truly campaign to get elected and will be held accountable to their campaign promises. But this can only happen if students who are passionate about serving their peers dedicate themselves to that calling; if they're willing to do a challenging, thankless and seemingly insignificant job to the benefit of the student body.

And this can only happen if students take an interest in who represents them. Ensuring that student voices are heard is more important than ever; make sure you have the best voices of the crowd representing your interests and vote in the NISG elections this February.

For more information about elections and how to run, visit www.uni.edu/nisg/elections.

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This editorial reflects the position of the Northern Iowan's editorial staff: John Anderson, Allie Koolbeck, Brad Eilers, Tehrene Firman, Brandon Baker and Kari Braumann. All other articles and illustrations represent the views of their authors.